Pad box



July 3, 1934, R MERRITT 1,965,149

PAD BOX Filed Aug. 7, 1933 latentecl July 3, 1934 PAD BOX Frank R. Merritt, Havel-hill, Mass), assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application August 7, 1933, Serial No. 683,930

12 Claims.

This invention relates to pad boxes for use in applying pressure to shoes and is illustrated as embodied in a pad box for use in cement-attaching soles to shoes with the aid of a machine such as that shown in United States Letters Patent No.

1,897,105, granted February 14, 1933, on the application of Milton I-I. Ballard.

The pad box used'in connection with sole at- 1 taching machines such as that shown in the i Ballard patent comprises a fluid-filled receptacle having a dilatable or distortable sole and shoe receiving wall and the machine itself is provided with shoe and last engaging abutments which act as pressure sustaining members and cooperate with the distortable wall to apply pressure to a shoe and sole, thereby forcing the sole into close contact with the shoe bottom. The distortable wall, when viewed from the side, has a contour generally resembling the profile of a shoe bottom. As explained in the Ballard patent, the pad box is placed on the sole attaching machine, a cemerited sole and a shoe are positioned on it, a preliminary pressure is applied to the shoe to set it firmly in position on the pad box, and then an operative pressure is applied.

in order to render the pad box properly applicable to shoes of varying sizes, the operative surface of the pad is necessarily much greater than the sole area of many of the shoes that are to be operated on. That part of the disto'rtable wall of the padwhich is not covered by the shoe tends to bulge up around the shoe when the operative pressure is applied, thus, in some cases tending to impart an undesirable curvature to the marginal portion of the sole. Such an efiect is especially undesirable at the toe of the shoe, and has been avoided by the provision of a so-called mask plate mounted in a slideway in the pad box just above the pad and manually adjustable therein so that its rear, recessed edge can be made to fit reasonably well around the toe of the shoe, and thus confine this part of the pad surface against upward movement relatively to the sole under the operative pressure.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved construction of pad box and mask plate having more convenient provision for effecting the above-mentioned longitudinal adjustment of the mask plate. To this end I have so arranged the mask plate as to be movable with one of the pressure sustaining members, illustrat'edherein as a plunger, when that member is adjusted longitudinally of the pad box, so that the proper adjustment of the pressure sustaining member relatively to the shoe will, of itself, carry the plate into proper relation to the toe of the shoe. 1 effect this by a mechanical connection between the mask plate and the pressure sustaining member.

In the illustrated embodiment of the inventionl have mounted the mask plate directly upon the toe plunger instead of directly upon the pad boX. Thus the adjustment of the plunger carries the mask plate directly with it. The connection between the plunger and the plate is preferably made horizontally adjustable in order to adapt the pad box for treatment of shoes varying in the styles of their toes, since a greater horizontal dis-- tance between plunger and plate is required with q,

a pointed toed shoe than with a blunt toed shoe of the same nominal length.

According to another feature of the invention the connection between the plunger and plate is rigid, so that the plate also moves vertically with the plunger as it descends to apply the preliminary pressure to the shoe. The shoe and last being substantially incompressible, this effects the desirable result of maintaining the proper vertical relation between the mask plate and the shoe sole, irrespective of chance variations in the preliminary pressure applied with consequent variations in the depth to which the shoe is sunk in the pad by such pressure. The connection is preferably made vertically adjustable to insure such proper relationship with shoes of varying toe-thickness.

These and other features of the invention comprising certain combinations and arrangements of parts will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan View;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation; I

Fig. 3 is a section on the line IIIIII of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a section on the line IV--IV of Fig. 2.

The frame 10 of the illustrated pad box is rectangular and open at top and bottom, and it is provided with a hinged bottom 12 through the raising of which the operative pressure is applied. The pad 14, which is made of fabric-reinforced rubber, and is hollow and filled with water, rests on this bottom and extends upwardly to the top of the box. Its upper surface, when viewed from the side, has a profile generally resembling that of a shoe bottom. A rear pressure ball 16 is pivoted at each end as at 18 to members 20 slidabl e on the frame 10, and having notches 22 into any one of which a spring-pressed pivotal latch 24 mounted on the pad box frame can fall. The heel pressure plunger 26 is vertically slidable in a boss at the upper end of the bail 16, and is forced toward its uppermost position by a spring 28. It is provided with ratchet teeth 30 cooperating with a spring-pressed dog 32 to hold. it down against the shoe when it has been pressed. down in the preliminary pressureapplying operation, as explained in the Ballard patent- A front or toe bail 34 has its ends fixedly mounted on rods 36 sliding in guides on the frame 10, and is held in longitudinally adjusted position by a spring-pressed latch 38 engaging in one of a series of holes 40 in the pad box frame. The boss 42 at the upper end of this bail slidably accommodates a sleeve 44, within which is slidably mounted the toe plunger 46 having ratchet teeth 48 cooperating with a spring-pressed dog 50. The sleeve 44 is slotted as shown in Fig. 4 to permit the dog to engage the teeth.

The sleeve 44 is clamped in adjusted position on the plunger 46 by a set screw 52, and carries a spider 54 extending forwardly and downwardly. A plate 56 is carried by the lower end of the spider and has the mask plate 58 longitudinally slidable in a dovetail groove in its lower face and clamped in adjusted position by a clamp 60.

It is readily seen that the spider 54 rigidly connects the mask plate 58 to the toe plunger 46 so that any adjustment of the toe ball 34 is exactly followed by the mask plate, the clamp 60 permitting adjustment for varying styles of toe. It is also clear that the screw 52 permits relative vertical adjustment of the mask plate and toe plunger to effect proper vertical relationship between the mask plate and the shoe sole and that the rigid connection between the plate and the plunger maintains this relationship irrespective of the depth to which the shoe is sunk in the pad by the preliminary pressure.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A fluid-filled receptacle having a distortable work engaging wall, a pressure sustaining member adjustable longitudinally of the receptacle above the work engaging wall, and a mask plate overlying the work engaging wall and operatively connected with the pressure sustaining member in such a manner as to partake of the longitudinal adjustment of the pressure sustaining member.

2. Apparatus for use in applying pressure to shoes comprising a fluid-filled receptacle having a distortable wall formed and arranged to receive the sole of a shoe, a member above said Wall mounted for longitudinal adjustment relatively thereto and constructed and arranged to engage a shoe and by cooperation with the distortable wall to apply pressure to the shoe, a mask plate overlying the distortable wall, and connections between the mask plate and said member constructed and arranged to cause the mask plate to partake of the longitudinal adjustment of said member.

3. A pad box comprising a frame, a flexible pad mounted in the frame, a pressure sustaining member longitudinally adjustable on the frame above the pad, and a mask plate overlying the pad and operatively connected with the pressure sustaining member in such manner as to partake of the longitudinal adjusting movement of the pressure sustaining member.

4. A pad box comprising a frame, a flexible pad mounted in the frame, a pressure plunger longitudinally adjustable on the frame above the pad, and a mask plate overlying the pad and operatively connected with the pressure plunger in such manner as to partake of the longitudinal adjusting movement of the pressure plunger.

A pad box comprising a frame, a flexible pad mounted in the frame, a pressure applying member mounted on the frame above the pad and longitudinally adjustable thereon, and a mask plate overlying a portion of the pad and operatively connected with the pressure applying member in such manner as to partake of the longitudinal adjusting movement of the pressure applying member, the mask plate being vertically adjustable relatively to the pressure applying member to aline the plate properly with the sole of a shoe in the pad box.

6. A pad box comprising a frame, a distortable pad mounted in the frame, a pressure plunger longitudinally adjustable on the frame above the pad, and a mask plate overlying the pad and cperatively connected with the pressure plunger in such manner as to partake of the longitudinal adjusting movement of the pressure plunger, the mask plate being horizontally adjustable relatively to the plunger to fit the toes of shoes of varying styles in the pad box.

7. A pad box comprising a frame, a member having a distortable work engaging surface mounted in the frame, a pressure applying member longitudinally adjustable on the frame above the surface, and a mask plate, having a recess shaped like the toe of a shoe, overlying the said surface and rigidly connected with the pressure applying member in such manner as to partake of the longitudinal adjusting movement of the pressure applying member.

8. A pad box for pressing a shoe and a sole together comprising a frame, a distortable pad mounted on the frame, a pressure bail longitudinally adjustable on the frame, a plunger mounted in the bail, a mask plate arranged to cover the pad in front of the shoe, and a connection operatively located between the mask plate and the bail, whereby the mask plate is longitudinally adjusted simultaneously with the bail.

9. A pad box for pressing a shoe and a sole together comprising a frame, a member having a distortable work engaging surface mounted on the frame, a pressure bail longitudinally adjustable on the frame, a plunger mounted in the bail, and a mask plate rigidly connected with the plunger and arranged to cover the said surface in front of the shoe.

10. A pad box for pressing a shoe and a sole together comprising a frame, a distortable pad mounted on the frame, a pressure bail longitudinally adjustable on the frame, a plunger mounted in the bail, a spider mounted on the plunger, and a mask plate carried by the spider and arranged to cover the pad in front of the shoe.

11. A pad box comprising a fluid-filled receptacle having a distortable shoe engaging wall, a pressure sustaining member adjustable longitudinally of the receptacle, a mask plate overlying v ment longitudinally of the shoe, and connections between the mask plate and the pressure sustaining means whereby positioning movement of the pressure sustaining means adjusts the mask plate longitudinally of the shoe.

FRANK R. MERRITT. 

